'tis from the Italian word "appartimento" actually, the meaning is derived from multiple people living in the same house, and they started to build ways of keeping them "apart", i.e. dedicated kitchens, etc. Apartments evolved from there.

I have a batch I brewed almost a year ago, and it still hasn't carbonated. I could infuse the bottles with some more yeast, but the quality of the beer isn't really up to scratch. I'll need to tip them all at some stage. Will be a sad day, having never done that before.